Jeevitesh
6/11/13
2G spectrum scam - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
2G spectrum scam
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The 2G spectrum scam involved politicians and government officials in India illegally undercharging mobile telephony companies for frequency allocation licenses, which they would then use to create 2G subscriptions for cell phones. The shortfall between the money collected and the money that the law mandated to be collected is estimated to be 1766.45 billion (US$32 billion), as valued by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India based on 3G and BWA spectrum auction prices in 2010.[1] However, the exact loss is disputed. In a chargesheet filed on 2 April 2011 by the investigating agency, Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), the loss was pegged at 309845.5 million (US$5.7 billion)[2] whereas on 19 August 2011 in a reply to CBI, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) said that the government gained over 30 billion (US$550 million) by giving 2G spectrum.[2] Similarly Kapil Sibal, the Minister of Communications & IT, claimed in 2011, during a press conference, that "zero loss" was caused by distributing 2G licenses on first-come-first-served basis.[3] It has to be pointed out, however, that "zero loss" can simply mean that frequencies were not sold for less than cost. The phrase indicates nothing about whether the sale was a scam. All the speculations of profit, loss and no-loss were put to rest on 2 February 2012 when the Supreme Court of India delivered judgement on a public interest litigation (PIL) which was directly related to the 2G spectrum scam. The Supreme Court declared allotment of spectrum as "unconstitutional and arbitrary" and quashed all the 122 licenses issued in 2008 during tenure of A. Raja (then minister for communications & IT) the main official accused in the 2G scam case.[4] The court further said that A. Raja "wanted to favour some companies at the cost of the public exchequer" and "virtually gifted away important
2G spectrum scam - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
2G spectrum scam
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The 2G spectrum scam involved politicians and government officials in India illegally undercharging mobile telephony companies for frequency allocation licenses, which they would then use to create 2G subscriptions for cell phones. The shortfall between the money collected and the money that the law mandated to be collected is estimated to be 1766.45 billion (US$32 billion), as valued by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India based on 3G and BWA spectrum auction prices in 2010.[1] However, the exact loss is disputed. In a chargesheet filed on 2 April 2011 by the investigating agency, Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), the loss was pegged at 309845.5 million (US$5.7 billion)[2] whereas on 19 August 2011 in a reply to CBI, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) said that the government gained over 30 billion (US$550 million) by giving 2G spectrum.[2] Similarly Kapil Sibal, the Minister of Communications & IT, claimed in 2011, during a press conference, that "zero loss" was caused by distributing 2G licenses on first-come-first-served basis.[3] It has to be pointed out, however, that "zero loss" can simply mean that frequencies were not sold for less than cost. The phrase indicates nothing about whether the sale was a scam. All the speculations of profit, loss and no-loss were put to rest on 2 February 2012 when the Supreme Court of India delivered judgement on a public interest litigation (PIL) which was directly related to the 2G spectrum scam. The Supreme Court declared allotment of spectrum as "unconstitutional and arbitrary" and quashed all the 122 licenses issued in 2008 during tenure of A. Raja (then minister for communications & IT) the main official accused in the 2G scam case.[4] The court further said that A. Raja "wanted to favour some companies at the cost of the public exchequer" and "virtually gifted away important
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